Leadership
2021-2022
MESSAGE FROM
Our 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 Board Chairs
The 2021-2022 school year was exhilarating as classrooms filled with students for the first full year since the start of the pandemic. Incredible work was done by teachers and the Student Support team to help students adjust following the unprecedented challenges of the past few years. And while that was our priority, the administration was clear that the work of the strategic plan required investment last year as well. The events of the past several years revealed the plan’s focus areas—student well-being & social emotional development, diversity, equity, inclusion, & justice (DEIJ), leadership & agency, and academic excellence & innovation—to be even more critical than before.
Highlights of this work last year included expansion of student support offerings and the launch of our Deeper Learning Initiative, which focused on Westridge Advanced Courses in the Upper School and included developing unifying principles of course design across grades 4-12 to engage students in deeper, more meaningful
Richard C. Fung
Board Chair 2021-2022
Valerie Rubio Lemmon '92
Board Chair 2022-2023
learning. In addition, two positions crucial to achieving the curricular and programmatic goals of the strategic plan were established—director of teaching and learning (James Evans) and director of equity (Ian Tatum). Thoughtful evolution of our programs will ensure today’s students are best prepared for their futures and that our program continues to inspire creative thinkers, compassionate young women, and courageous leaders for generations to come.
The culture of philanthropy that our parent and alumnae volunteers have worked to develop continues to spread and deepen. The Annual Fund, now named the Westridge Fund, continued its year-over-year growth last year, exceeding our goal with more than $1.5 million contributed.
Importantly, giving to the school’s endowment reached significant milestones. This year, Robert Day, chairman of the W. M. Keck Foundation, made the largest, one-time gift in school history, $5 million, to our endowment. Giving to the alumnae-founded Forever Fund for financial aid is nearing its $1 million goal. And Head of School Elizabeth J. McGregor was honored for her June 2022 retirement with the community raising $1 million to establish the McGregor Fund to support DEIJ.
The McGregor Fund is a fitting tribute to a tireless advocate for Westridge and girls’ education. Liz’s work from curriculum innovation and expanding DEIJ efforts to strengthening school administration and developing the strategic plan that guides us today, leaves the school in an incredibly strong position. And, it enabled us to attract Andrea Kassar, our 12th and current head of school, who has all the attributes to build on Liz’s legacy and move us forward in the continued pursuit of excellence.
We believe that progress in this time of rapid change in education and the world is our responsibility to our students, and the great progress of the last year was made possible by you. We thank you for supporting Westridge in meeting this responsibility, advancing our mission, and looking forward to an ever-brighter future for our students.
2021-2022
Board of Trustees
* indicates deceased
Richard C. Fung, Chair
Darrell Chulay Banta ’77
Holly Bowyer
Mike Burke
Sigrid Burton ’69
Laureen B. Chang
Kenneth T. Fong
Akila Gibbs
Kirsten L. Hansen ’83
Marc S. Harris
Erik Hovanec
Suzanne D. Icaza
Tina Li Kleindorfer
Valerie Rubio Lemmon ’92
Richard B. Lord
Donald L. Morgan, Ph.D.
John Scott Mulchaey, Ph.D.
Ismael Obregon
Daniel Prince
Elizabeth Russell ’69
Kristan Browne Swan ’86
Emily Ko Wang ’93
Joseph J. Ybarra
Teri Wilde ’69, Alumnae Board Chair
Trustees Emeriti
Susana Smith Bautista ’84
Tempe B. Brooks
David C. Elliot*
Ellen Ellis*
Richard N. Frank*
Judith K. Gain
Brooke Larsen Garlock ’70
Dorothy Hughes Matthiessen ’52
David G. Mgrublian
Robert P. Miller*
Helen Johnstone Rose*
James F. Rothenberg*
Susan Shepherd Sweezy*
Shaw B. Wagener
Teri Wilde ’69, Chair
Jessica Yang ’10, Vice Chair
Taylor Callobre ’08
Elizabeth (Liz) Carlton ’03
Eliza (Ellie) Diop ’10
Veronica Escobedo ’08
Monica Oller ’91
Nicole Rabaudi ’90
Marianne Van Vorst Ryan ’79
Melissa Wu ’94
2021-2022
Alumnae Board
Alicia Henry ’01
Ann Hazeltine Hyde ’66
Julia Tyson La Grua ’71
Thembisa Mshaka ’88
Shahbano Nawaz ’98
Cassandra Nufable ’12
2021-2022
Executive Committee
Ellen Tsang
President
Lisa Burke
President-Elect
Edie M. Tyebkhan ’86
Past President
Allison R. Dietrick ’93
Vice President Upper School
Bianca Martinez
Vice President Middle School
Eliz Lee
Vice President Lower School
Patrick Connor
Vice President Annual Fund
Mary McCloud
Vice President Communications
Rayann Scolnick
Summer Opportunities Fair Chair
Wendy Wu
Treasurer
Angela Rashid
Assistant Treasurer
Sue Moses
Secretary
Jasmine White
Admission Liaison
